Eight in ten Covid cases in UK show no ‘core symptoms’, research finds
New study says well-known indicators such as cough and loss of smell are a ‘poor marker of infection’
The majority of people with Covid-19 exhibit no “core” symptoms when they get tested, a major new study has found.
Scientists at University College London (UCL) analysed data on more than 36,000 people tested for coronavirus in the UK between April and June and found that of the 115 who tested positive, 88 (76.5%) presented no symptoms.
And a further 9.6% of people who tested positive showed none of the classic Covid symptoms – a cough, fever, or loss of taste and smell.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In a paper published in medical journal Clinical Epidemiology, the scientists conclude that “Covid-19 symptoms are a poor marker of (Covid) infection”.
That verdict have “prompted fears that future Covid-19 outbreaks will be hard to control without more widespread testing in the community to pick up ‘silent transmission’”, says The Guardian.
The UCL team are calling for a change in testing strategy based on the findings of their study - based on data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Covid Symptom Study, which surveys thousands of UK households every week regardless of whether the respondents have symptoms.
“Frequent and widespread testing of all individuals, not just symptomatic cases, at least in high-risk settings or specific locations” would be key to preventing transmission, they write.
Study co-author Irene Petersen, a professor of epidemiology at UCL, “said university students are one group who should be tested regularly, and definitely before they go home for Christmas”, The Telegraph reports.
“You may have a lot of people who are out in the society and they’re not self-isolating because they didn’t know that they are positive,” she added.
However, some experts believe the research findings may be misleading, according to the Science Media Centre, an independent press office for science.
Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, argues that because the study only focused on the moment of testing, the results cannot accurately determine the proportion of people with Covid who become symptomatic or remain asymptomatic at some stage during their infection.
“Anyone who was previously symptomatic and had now recovered or who were currently incubating the infection and would develop symptoms within the following hours would not be included as being symptomatic in this study,” he said.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'New arrivals are more than paying for themselves'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
6 stylish homes in Portland, Oregon
Feature Featuring a wall of windows in Collins View and a historic ballroom in Portland Heights
By The Week US Published
-
What's next for US interest rates?
The Explainer Stubborn inflation forestalls anticipated rate cuts
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Covid four years on: have we got over the pandemic?
Today's Big Question Brits suffering from both lockdown nostalgia and collective trauma that refuses to go away
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The hollow classroom
Opinion Remote school let kids down. It will take much more than extra tutoring for kids to recover.
By Mark Gimein Published
-
Excess screen time is making children only see what is in front of them
Under the radar The future is looking blurry. And very nearsighted.
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Covid-19: what to know about UK's new Juno and Pirola variants
in depth Rapidly spreading new JN.1 strain is 'yet another reminder that the pandemic is far from over'
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Long-term respiratory illness is here to stay
The Explainer Covid is not the only disease with a long version
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Covid inquiry: the most important questions for Boris Johnson
Talking Point Former PM has faced weeks of heavy criticism from former colleagues at the public hearing
By The Week Staff Published
-
China's pneumonia cases: should we be worried?
The Explainer Experts warn against pushing 'pandemic panic button' following outbreak of respiratory illness
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
Vallance diaries: Boris Johnson 'bamboozled' by Covid science
Speed Read Then PM struggled to get his head around key terms and stats, chief scientific advisor claims
By The Week UK Published